


Family Christmas

by Joe_Reaves



Category: Primeval
Genre: Christmas, Established Relationship, Family, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-11
Updated: 2010-04-11
Packaged: 2017-10-08 20:57:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/79454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joe_Reaves/pseuds/Joe_Reaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lester struggles to enjoy a family Christmas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Christmas

Lester resisted the urge to hurl his mobile phone at the wall. Of all the days to get stuck miles away from home it had to be Christmas Eve. Somehow he was going to find a way to blame this on Cutter. If the man could only be trusted not to interfere when Ryan and his men were trying to eliminate whatever large, cold blooded problem they were dealing with, he wouldn't have had to come with them to run damage control. He was pretty sure the weather wasn't directly Cutter's fault, but he didn't actually care at this point. He decided to live up to the sticker someone, ie Lyle, but he was pretending he didn't know, and Lyle was pretending that he didn't know that he knew, had stuck on his laptop – I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was going to blame you.

He stalked into the main room of the hotel they had commandeered. "Six inches of snow and it's still snowing. It's not going to stop until after midnight and then it's going to freeze if the met office are to be believed." He glared at Cutter. "You might not have anything to do but protect harmless little twenty-ton lizards but I had plans that didn't include being stuck in Yorkshire over Christmas."

Nick opened his mouth, presumably to protest that it wasn't his fault a herd of apatosaurus had decided that the Yorkshire moors were a good holiday spot, but before he could say anything, Stephen stuffed a chunk of Christmas cake in his mouth.

"Shut up, Cutter," he said quietly. "Now isn't the time."

Lester ignored the two of them and stalked over to where Lyle was stretched out on one of the large leather sofas. Pushing Lyle's legs off of it he sat down, rolling his eyes when Lyle instantly put his legs back up again, this time in Lester's lap. He accepted the mug of hot chocolate that his lover had been saving for him, though, and even managed a somewhat strained smile.

"Did you talk to the kids?" Lyle asked, softly.

Lester sighed. "The boys are being very grown up and pretending they understand. I think they're more worried about me being miserable than anything. Sarah just cried." He ran a hand through his hair, distractedly. "I hate disappointing her, but I don't see how we're going to get back before Boxing Day."

Lyle reached out and squeezed his arm reassuringly. "I'm sorry. What about Allison?"

"She understands. I told her we'd do our best, but I wasn't going to make any promises to the children that we'd probably have to break. Her parents are being all smugly disapproving about it and she's caught in the middle. She promised she'd take lots of pictures." He smiled again, unconvincingly. "It's not the same as being there though."

Ryan was signalling to Lyle from the other side of the room, so he swung his legs back off the sofa again and leant over to give Lester a quick kiss, silencing his protest with a muttered, "Hush, it's Christmas." He got up and walked over to Ryan, their heads bent together for a moment before they disappeared into the side room Lester had been using earlier for his phone call.

Lester sighed. If he couldn't get home for Christmas, at least he'd thought he'd be able to relax on the sofa with Lyle, but apparently he couldn't even have that. He schooled his face into a neutral expression. It might be Christmas, but they weren't on holiday and he couldn't complain that they were working. They were still officially on duty after all.

Across the room, the soldiers and the others were huddled in small groups, talking or playing cards or eating some of the excellent food the hotel staff had managed to provide for them. He rather thought the hospitality was more due to a tag team flirting and eyelash fluttering effort from Stephen and Abby than the government credit card he'd used to pay for it all, but he wasn't going to complain. He didn't care how the food and rooms had been acquired, as long as they had. Taking advantage of Lyle's absence, he stretched out more comfortably on the sofa. They'd been up since before dawn, and the heat of the room combined with the comfortable furniture and the soothing murmur of voices to lull him into an unexpected but restful sleep.

When he awoke, it was to the feel of Lyle gently shaking him. He blinked up into his lover's warm hazel eyes and smiled, before reality came crashing in and he remembered he was stuck in the middle of nowhere, several hundred miles from home, and it was Christmas Eve. He checked his watch surreptitiously to make sure it was still Christmas Eve and not Christmas proper.

"Yes, it's still Christmas Eve, you haven't missed it, Ebeneezer," Lyle teased.

"Oh shut up," he grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes sleepily. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"Probably a good job you did," Lyle told him with a smirk. "The kids are going to have you up before it even gets light tomorrow..."

"What?" Lester looked at him intently; he'd better not be joking about that or he'd be sleeping on the sofa for at least a month.

"Ryan and I called in every favour we were owed, and then some, but there's a flight heading from here out to Afghanistan and it's stopping off at Brize Norton to pick up more cargo and a second crew. They've got room for you, me, and Kermit on it. Then, for an astronomical amount that we couldn't get lowered, unfortunately, there will be two taxis waiting. One to take Kermit to Hereford and one to take us to Allison's place. We should get in about four in the morning. You'll have to leave the Mercedes here with Ryan, but we thought you wouldn't mind." Lyle grinned triumphantly and Lester kissed him enthusiastically, not caring about their audience for now.

"When do we leave?" Lester had resigned himself to being stranded in Yorkshire. He should have realised Lyle wouldn't just leave it at that. He'd have to thank Ryan as well. He'd been asleep for four hours and it sounded like the two of them had been working on this the whole time.

Lyle chuckled. "As soon as we're ready. The flight won't wait for anyone and it's shitty weather out there still. We can't risk missing it."

"Have I told you recently how much I love you?" Lester asked, quietly. He nudged the other man out of the way so he could stand up. "Which car are we taking?"

"Yours." Lyle shrugged. "The others are still loaded with kit or covered in mud. Yours is the only one clean enough that will fit all four of us. Ryan's going to drive us to the base. Then he's going to come back here, park it securely in the garage and take one of the land rovers to see if he can make it through to York and his family."

"That's stupid, he's going to have to go miles out of his way to do that. He can take the Mercedes. It's the least I can do after all your work. Besides if he hadn't been organising this he could have got off hours ago, couldn't he?" Lester was genuinely touched - Ryan had taken the time to do this for him and for Kermit when he could have been spending it with his own children.

"I hoped you'd say that," Lyle said, wrapping an arm around his waist. "But I wasn't going to offer for you. I know better than to do anything with your car without permission."

Lester leaned into the touch for a moment before pulling away. His things were already in the car so it was just a matter of waiting for Kermit, Lyle, and Ryan to grab theirs. Ryan was leaning on the wall, watching them with a smile playing about his lips.

"Thank you," Lester told him, sincerely. "I really appreciate everything you've done, Captain. I know you'd rather have left before dark to make it home to your wife for Christmas."

Ryan shrugged. "This is the closest to home I've been at Christmas for the last three years. I know what it feels like to not be there when they wake up and open their presents. Since I'll be there to see it for myself this year, it only seemed fair to make sure you and Kermit could do the same." He smiled slowly. "I tried leaving this lug behind but he insisted on tagging along as well."

Lester laughed, relaxing properly for the first time since it had started to snow. "I like to keep him around to do any heavy lifting. Besides if I have too endure being woken up before dawn by my children I don't see why Jon should get out of it." His complaints were belied by the broad smile on his face. "Take the Mercedes with you down to York rather than coming back here, Ryan. It should be able to handle the snow reasonably well for a short journey and there's no need for you to waste any more time driving back here to get a land rover."

"Thank you, sir." Ryan smiled back and shook his hand. "I appreciate it." He jerked his head towards the car and Kermit, who was practically vibrating as he waited for them. "We'd better go before Kermit remembers how to hot wire a car and leaves us behind."

The drive to the base was more perilous than Lester had expected. Apparently the military liked to build air force bases in the back end of beyond, which meant a lot of very careful driving down narrow, windy country lanes, that were currently under nearly a foot of snow. Fortunately Ryan was a very good driver and they, and the Mercedes, made it to the base unharmed.

Watching the way Ryan and Lyle interacted with the pilot before they boarded made him wonder if this little journey of theirs was strictly legal. He wasn't going to ask though – someone might tell him and then he'd be compelled to act on that information. He didn't want to have to have himself arrested, not until after the holidays at any rate.

Strapping himself in, he looked around the cabin and wrinkled his nose. Apparently transport planes weren't designed for comfort. Not that he particularly cared right at this moment – if it would get him home he'd have hitched a ride with Santa and his reindeer if he had to.

Lyle smiled across at him. The plane was too loud to really talk and with their safety-belts on they couldn't really touch so he settled for nudging Lester's foot with his boot and grinning. When Lester smiled back at him he winked, before settling back to see if he could catch half an hour's sleep.

As Ryan had promised there were two taxis waiting for them at Brize Norton. In a fit of generosity Lester persuaded the two drivers to call their company and charge his journey and Kermit's to the government credit card. He'd probably regret that when he saw the budget at the end of the month, but for now it seemed like the thing to do.

He and Lyle slid gratefully into the back of their taxi and he leaned back, closing his eyes. It would be at least an hour before they got home, maybe more if the roads were bad. If he was lucky he'd be able to get some more sleep. Because he had his eyes shut the hand on his thigh came as a shock.

He opened his eyes and glared at his lover, who was sitting there looking like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, while his hand inched slowly along Lester's leg. Firmly he removed the hand, squeezing it warningly and then keeping hold of it as he closed his eyes again. If he was holding Lyle's hand at least the other man couldn't get up to any mischief with it. He had no desire to get thrown out of the taxi when the driver caught on to what Lyle was doing.

"Sorry," Lyle said, softly, not sounding the least bit repentant. "I couldn't resist."

"Try," Lester said, dryly. He forced his eyes open again and smiled at Lyle fondly. "Restrain yourself until we're back in our flat again and I'll see what I can do to reward you."

Lyle chuckled. "That sounds like a worthwhile deal. I promise I'll be good and not embarrass you in front of your in laws... ex in laws … whatever you call them."

"Generally, the things I call them are unrepeatable. They didn't like me all that much when Allison and I were married, they certainly don't like me now. And they're going to hate you on sight. Fortunately, my children have much better taste and like you more than me, so I don't really care what Oliver and Beatrice think of you. Or me for that matter."

"You don't care what anyone thinks of you," Lyle teased. "It's one of your more endearing qualities. Come on. Close your eyes again and try to catch forty winks. I'll behave. I promise."

Lester smiled and did as he was told, drifting off as the car bumped quietly along the road.

He woke with a start when the car stopped and scrubbed at his eyes again. Rummaging in his wallet he gave the driver a tip and then stumbled out into the cold night air. He was still half asleep, but Lyle managed to get their bags out of the car without letting go of Lester. When the car drove away he nudged the other man and they stumbled sleepily along the garden path.

The cold woke Lester up enough for him to be able to find his key and he unlocked the door as quietly as he could. Leaving their coats, shoes, and bags in the hall, Lester tugged Lyle into the living room.

"I'm sorry. I don't know which room she wanted us to have and I don't want to try and figure it out through trial and error. We'll just wake everyone up," he whispered. "The sofa pulls out into a bed though and it's not like we'll be sleeping on it for long." He looked at his watch and groaned. "By my reckoning they'll be up in less than three hours."

Lyle smiled and pulled him close for a slow kiss. "The things I do for you, sweetheart."

Between them they managed to get the sofa pulled out into a bed and they stretched out on it fully dressed. Lester took a blanket from the back of the sofa and pulled it over the two of them, tugging Lyle closer until he could rest his head on the other man's shoulder.

Lyle wrapped his arm around Lester and wriggled until he was comfortable and then closed his eyes. He was sure Lester was exaggerating about how early the children would be up, but there was no harm in trying to grab as much sleep as they could after the last thirty-six hours or so.

He woke to the sound of thundering feet and was already reaching for the gun he wasn't actually wearing, before he realised what he was doing. Proving how tired he had really been despite his nap back at the hotel, Lester didn't wake up until the screaming started.

"Daddy!"

Lester opened his eyes just in time to catch Sarah as she threw herself at him. He groaned dramatically. "You're getting too big to jump on me like this, munchkin." He hugged her tightly and struggled to sit up as the two boys piled onto the bed as well.

"You're here," she shrieked, delightedly before wriggling out of Lester's arms and practically strangling Lyle with another enthusiastic cuddle.

"We managed to get a lift from Father Christmas," Lester told her. He pulled Thomas into a quick hug and reached out to ruffle Daniel's hair, smiling at both of them broadly. "Why don't the three of you start on your presents while I go and put the coffee on. With the noise the munchkin has been making I'm sure everyone else is awake by now."

He slid out of bed as Sarah dived into the pile of presents under the tree, dividing them up into piles for each person, with some help from Thomas since she couldn't read very well yet.

Daniel leaned closer to Lyle and whispered, "Father Christmas?"

"Well, if he wore a uniform and flew a Hercules anyway," Lyle told him conspiratorially. "We called in some favours and got a ride so your dad could be here for the three of you."

Daniel hugged him quickly before backing off and trying to look cool. He was too old for hugs now he was twelve, or so he'd declared anyway, and he was convinced that if he ever let himself look uncool for even a second. every girl in his class would somehow know about it and think he was a dork.

Lyle grinned back. "I'm going to go and help your dad with the coffee. Keep an eye on those two and we'll be back in time for you to start opening everything. Don't let them get carried away before your mum gets up. I'm sure she'd like to watch you all open your presents."

Daniel nodded. "Okay, Lyle, but don't take too long. Thomas has been turning the house upside down looking for his for the last month. I don't know how much longer he can last."

"And you're not impatient at all, right?" Lyle asked knowingly.

"Of course not. I'm too old to act like that."

Fortunately, Lyle was spared from having to answer by the appearance of Allison and her parents.

She managed a sleepy smile in Lyle's direction and he responded with a polite nod. He knew she wasn't keen on him, but Lester had assured him it was only because she'd hate anyone he dated and that she didn't have any problem with him personally. It must be hard to see someone else with the man you were married to for fifteen years, so Lyle always made an effort to be as friendly to her as he could.

"James is making coffee. I was just going to go and help him," he told her. "We didn't want to wake anyone up when we got in so we just crashed on the couch. I hope you don't mind."

Beatrice, Allison's mother opened her mouth to say something but Allison jumped in before she could. "No, that was very thoughtful of you. I'm glad you both made it. The children were so disappointed when they thought you weren't coming. Go and get the coffee, I'll make sure the two of you don't miss anything."

"Thanks." He nodded politely to Beatrice and Oliver and then quickly went in search of Lester. "They're all up," he told his lover. "Hurry up with the coffee and let's get back in there." He stole a quick kiss. "Thank you for inviting me this year, James. It's going to be fun."


End file.
